Carpe Diem
by FingerlessTyper
Summary: The classic James and Lily story, with a few original twists of my own! Eh. I'm not too good at this summary business! First ever story - please review!
1. Chapter 1

**Carpe Diem**

"Ugh! You infuriate me Potter! Seriously, when are you going to just GROW UP!", and with that Lily Evans stormed out of the train compartment. This was their last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly and Lily Evans was just bestowed the good news that James Potter, her arch-nemesis, had been named Head Boy. Suffice to say, she was _not_ happy.

"That was… Interesting." quipped Sirius, drumming his fingers on a magazine he'd been reading.

"Shut it Sirius!" retorted his friend, running a hand through his hair. "Man, I messed up again! I was just kidding and she just _has_ to take things so seriously…" muttered James.

"Well to be honest mate, I don't blame her, she just found out that she's sharing her Head duties with you. It's a big thing for her and she reckons you're going to mess it up, which isn't totally uncalled for, now is it?" said Sirius fairly.

"I know, but – "

"And she probably didn't appreciate you turning her book into a snake."

"You think…" drawled Remus, rolling his eyes heavenwards.

James sighed resignedly and said "I was trying to make a dramatic entrance and besides, the snake was harmless!"

"_Harmless_ isn't quite the word people think of when they notice a snake sliding across their lap" smirked Remus.

They all sat in the silence and continued doing whatever they were doing previously. Lily shouting at James was something they had begun to get used to, after 6 years of verbal battles between the two, they weren't expecting anything less.

Sirius Black had his legs stretched onto the opposite seats and was magically levitating his Quidditch Daily magazine for ease of reading. He had a relaxed presence about him, as though nothing, pardon the pun, was ever _serious. _Remus Lupin was the reserved character in the group, more logical than impulsive, quite unlike his friends. He too was reading a magazine, but on Astronomy, one of his favourite subjects. Peter Pettigrew, plump and watery-eyed was quiet like Remus but didn't really have any special qualities. At a quick glance, Peter just didn't seem to fit in with the Marauders, but everyone knew that the marauders were notoriously loyal to each other, and that counted for something. James Potter, bespectacled and hazel eyed, was the epitome of popular. He was Captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team and leader of the infamous Marauder group at Hogwarts. If anybody was jealous of anyone at Hogwarts, it was him, he had it all. Except one thing. He didn't have the thing he wanted the most; Lily Evans.

"I guess I'll apologise to her before the meeting" mumbled James, looking downcast.

"Cheer up James! C'mon, you've done much worse – she's just in shock with the Head Boy thing" said Sirius brightly, standing up and stretching enthusiastically.

"Yeah, well so am I. I mean, what _was_ Dumbledore thinking?" demanded James to no-one in particular.

"Well", mused Remus, "it is very unorthodox for a non-prefect to get the Head Boy status.

But Dumbledore obviously sees some something in you to justify him giving you Head Boy. Maybe if you stop acting like a prat around Lily, she'll see that something too."

"Yeah, well, don't get your hopes high" snorted James. He wanted so badly to be nice to her, but for some reason, his mind simply did not function properly whenever she was around.

"Wasn't planning on it" grinned Remus, high-fiving Sirius. James chucked the remainder of his Chocolate Frog at them, glaring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

James took a deep breath and slowly began opening the door to Lily's compartment. To his surprise however, he didn't find the fuming Lily he was expecting to placate. Instead, he saw her quite content and peaceful looking. She was asleep. He gazed at her for a while, admiring how serene and angelic she looked. To the average person she was just a freckled redhead, albeit rather pretty, but to him, she was perfect.  
As much as James wanted to just stare at her sleeping soundly, he didn't think the fiery tempered girl would quite appreciate that. But as he went to shut the door again, he saw Lily's eyes flicker open. James' heart fluttered in his chest as her emerald green eyes penetrated into his.

"Potter!" said a surprised Lily, yawning in an attempt to shake off her sleepy state, "What is it?" Her voice was soft, quite unlike the last time they spoke.

"Oh! I didn't mean to wake you! Err, I just wanted to say that I – I'm…" he broke off mid-sentence, unable to think properly. She had that effect on him, whenever she was around it was like he was drunk on her presence, with him being unable to form coherent sentences. Lily frowned but did not interrupt.

James shook himself mentally and continued, "I wanted to apologise for acting like a jerk earlier. I–I shouldn't have sprung the news of me being Head Boy on you like that and rubbed it in your face. A–and the snake… I'm not sure what I was thinking" he mumbled that last sentence and suddenly felt extremely awkward.

Lily stared at him, expecting him to suddenly say '_Haha! Got ya! I was kidding!_'. But it did not come. James Potter, apologising to her, Lily Evans? '_This is as crazy as Potter becoming Head Boy' _thought Lily, bemused.

"Umm. It-it's fine, I guess" replied Lily, not quite sure what to say. She really wanted to berate him for his earlier behaviour, but the apology really threw her. James beamed at her, surprised at her willingness to forgive him. Normally this would've been an arguing point for at least another week. After which, of course, they'd find something else to bicker about. Before James or Lily could say another word, Marlene McKinnon and Mary McDonald sauntered over, both carrying a significant amount of sweets from the Trolley Lady.

Marlene and Mary were Lily's best friends, they'd met during their first year and become a closely-knit group, similar to the Marauders. They were, alongside Lily, very popular at school. Sirius often joked about how the school was split into three groups, Team Evans, Team McKinnon and Team McDonald, which to be fair, was quite accurate. According to the boys anyway.

"_What" _said Marlene, pushing past James, "is going on here?" She dropped her sweets onto her Lily's lap unceremoniously and rounded on James, hands on hips.

James recovered the fastest, smirking "Well Evans here was just declaring her love to me. I told you it was only a matter of time".

"_Puh-leeze_, dream on" said Lily, rolling her eyes. "Potter here was just – Agh! Potter gerrof!" screamed Lily as James clamped his hand over her mouth. Smiling sheepishly at her friends, he said "Whatever she says, she's lying. Okay?" and with that he quickly walked away, winking at Lily.

'_That went well!_' thought James, smiling at himself. If it were any other day, Lily would've had his throat. Put quite simply, they didn't get on. Not for lack of trying mind, James tried to be nice to her all the time, but he couldn't quite do it properly. Not in the conventional manner anyway, he would hex anyone that would try to speak ill of her. However, all she saw was James hexing innocent students for his pleasure and to show off and saw nothing genuine.

This year however, James wanted to change. He saw that his previous attempts to win her over were not working and he had to do something about it. It was his last year at Hogwarts. To him, this was make or break.

**FingerlessTyper here! This is, for those of you who don't know, my first ever story. Ish. I mean I've written short stories before, but this is my first real attempt at a story. It is, however, my first fan fiction, so please, **_**please**_ **leave some reviews and follows. It will make my day. Reviews are like chocolate on a cold January morning :/ **

**That last sentence was a reference to Carpe Diem, the story's name. Carpe Diem is Latin for "Seize the Day". So yeah, in essence, James is trying to change in order to win Lily's heart.**

**Agh. School tomorrow. **

**Anyway! Just. Please. Review. Just 1 word. That's all it'll take to make me happy. Please review to show me that my work is being appreciated and that I'm not wasting my time here. Constructive criticism is also welcome. And to my first reviewer and first follower; you're both awesome.**

**Also, I wanted some feedback on my pen name. It really was quite spontaneous and I thought it was rather funny at the time. What do you think of it? Is it silly or funny etc?**

**Do let me know in the *ahem* **_**REVIEW! ;D**_

_**Adios.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

"Very good Evans… A-and you Potter", said Professor McGonagall, looking at them curiously, as a throng of students filed out of the prefect's carriage.

Lily smiled modestly and thanked Professor McGonagall, who was still in shock at the lack of misbehaviour from James. Lily too was surprised, but she was adamant it was a facade, and that he wouldn't be able to keep up with appearances much longer.

"Of course Professor, I was chosen as _Head Boy_ for a reason!" James said cockily, reverting to old James like the flick of a switch. He smoothed his expensive, wrinkle free robes importantly and bade them both good evening. At this, both Professor McGonagall and Lily rolled their eyes and began walking back to their compartments.

Lily walked back slowly to her compartment, deep in thought. She felt there was something different about James but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. '_He apologised to me… He never does that. And he was being positively nice to everyone in the meeting for James' standards. Except when McGonagall came of course, then he turned back to normal James'. _She closed her eyes momentarily as she sighed deeply, exhausted from the day's activities. And in those few seconds she stubbed her toenail against a book that had strewn across the floor, causing her to trip. She let out a shriek as she lurched forwards, heading for the floor. Just as she was sure her face and the floor were going to be acquainted with each other, she was caught by a familiar bespectacled figure.

"I do believe", growled James, "that you just fell for me". He stood there smirking, with Lily in his arms, completely helpless and in shock. She wanted to scream and kick at him for his facetious comment, but words seem to fail her at this juncture. Lily suddenly realised there were quite a few people in the vicinity; a few sixth year boys wolf whistling and several girls glaring at her furiously. Stuttering, she extracted herself from James in such hurried fashion, one would believe Lily had just been informed that James was a carrier of the plague.

"Thanks – I mean, n – gerrof – must - go", red faced and blushing furiously, Lily hobbled away, wishing the floor would just open up and swallow her. The jeers and tittering slowly faded as she walked as fast as her short legs could humanly take her to an empty apartment. Groaning softly, partly because of the embarrassment she had just endured and partly because of her now bleeding toe. She lifted her legs on to the seats so she could better inspect her injury, but as she placed a finger near the affected area, the compartment door was opened. She jumped in surprise, poking her already painful toe in surprise and let out a whimper of pain. Fighting back tears as the pain doubled, she looked up to see the intruder.

"Potter! Get out! Out!" cried Lily, unable to take his presence any longer. '_He's caused enough damage today'_ thought Lily miserably.

James merely frowned at her and came closer before saying "Evans, you're not crying are you?"

"N - No!" stammered Lily, despite all the evidence to the contrary. She quickly wiped her tears away using her sleeve before turning her attention back to her toe.

"Stupid nail! C - Came off… I need some bandages…" she rambled as Potter's frown became deeper.

"WHAT!" screamed Lily, after Potter continued to stare at her. His gaze faltered and he muttered "You're a witch" quietly.

Trying to compose herself and understand why he would call her such a silly name at this moment in time she asked him, faux sweet, "Please will you _please_ just – OH!"

A look of realisation came ove her as she pulled out her wand and tapped her toe whilst saying, _Vanare._ The blood vanished and the nail seemed to just grow back in to its natural, unbroken state.

"Right. I _am_ a witch," said Lily, nervously twirling her auburn hair.

"And a brilliant one at that. Although you did have me doubting you for a second…" said James, grinning playfully at her. He paused, unsure if he should carry on and risk getting his head bitten off. He found, during his many years with her, that Lily could snap from being the nicest person around to being masterfully vindictive, depending on who was in the room. Unfortunately for him, he was usually the only one who turned her into the latter.

"You sure you're okay? You weren't crying over the fact I embarrassed you right? If so -" but he was cut off as Lily interrupted him.

"I'm fine Potter. And no, those tears you just witnessed were tears of pain. Merlin knows how muggles survive without magic".

"Oh please, broken toe nail? That's nothing," James said blithely.

"Bye Potter", retorted Lily, picking up her bags and heading for the door.

"Go out with me Evans?" James called after her.

She didn't turn around but responded by flipping him off.

"Today has been a good day," announced James rather pretentiously, to his roommates. Sirius, Lupin and Pettigrew were all in bed given the late hour. James had just returned from helping out the first years get to their designated rooms. He had shared brief, but civil conversations with Lily as he helped out.

"Why d'you say that?" muttered Sirius sleepily.

"Don't ask him you twat!" groaned Remus "You know he'll just ramble on and on about Lily!"

James threw his pillow at Lupin.

"I have made," James paused for dramatic effect, then went on to say "_progress_". Lupin growled into his pillow.

"With Evans," he continued hastily, knowing that even Sirius' patience would wear thin at this rate. "We had more than just one civilised conversation today. And that was just on the train! She's warming up to me, big time."

Shaking his head, Sirius looked at his friend pitifully, "That Evans… Seriously, you need to get over her. Evans treats you like crap, yet you're infatuated with her. She'll never go out with you, you know that right?"

"Seventh year's the charm mate" responded James meekly.

**Sorry for the late update. The first two chapters went well I think, and I just didn't want the possibility of ruining it so I stopped updating =P **

**Now I'm back, and if I get positive reviews then I'll continue updating on a regular basis.**

**So, feedback on the story. What should I emphasise on? What am I not describing enough? What am I missing out? Am I focussing on one thing too much? **

**Do tell.**

**Reviews are like chocolates and cookies on a dateless Valentine's :D**


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